Apparatus for supplying natural gas to locomotives



(No ModeL) APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING NATURAL GAS T0 LOGOMOTIVES.

llNiTED STATES PATnNT Oriana.

J. HARMAR KATZ, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYiNG NATURAL GAS TO LOCOMOTIVES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 331,716,6latecl December 1,1885.

Application filed July 15, 1885. Serial No.1?1,705. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J. HARMAR Karz, of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Supplying Natural Gas to Locomotives; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters ofrefercnce mark ed thereon, which form part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a track and locomotive illustrating the invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the tender. Fig. 3 is a detail of the valve.

The invention relates to apparatus for feeding natural gas to moving furnaces (but especially to the furnaces of locomotives) as a fuel; and it consists in the construction and novel arrangement of parts hereinafter described, and pointed out in the appended claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings by letter, A designates a main pipe, or branch pipe from the same, through which the natural gas flows from a well, which may be situated therefrom at any distance within a practicallyascertained limit. The pipe A, as shown, runs on the side of and parallel to a railroad, A, and has rising from it, at suitable intervals, the vertical pipes B, preferably of less diameter than itself. The pipes B may rise from different mains, but must be on the line of the road and at suitable intervals apart. Each pipe B is provided, preferably near its upper end, with a suitable valve, 13, operated by any proper well-known mechanism. 7

The drawings represent B as a balanced valve, the spindle of which,extending outside of the pipe,is bent at right angles to form the arm I), which is connected by means of the link I), pivoted at its lower end, to the leverhandle 0, having its inner end pivoted to a bracket secured to the pipe. To open the valve, the leverhandle is depressed, and to make it self-closing a spring, 0, bears against the under side of the handle.

D is a horizontally-swinging pipe coupled gas-tight to the top of the pipe B, and having on its free end a coupling'picce, D, adapted for rapid coupling, and serving a purpose hereinafter explained.

' E is a locomotive traveling on the track A, and F is the tender thereof. The tender F is composed of a water-tank, F, situated either at the bottom or one side thereof, and a strong chamber, F, suitable to receive and contain gas under considerable pressure.

f is a short pipe or nozzle rising from the chamber F and adapted to be coupled rapidly to the couplingpiece D of the pipe D. f is a valve on the nozzle f, by means of which the chamber F can be closed when the same is full of gas, the coupling-piece D beingthen disconnected.

G is a pipe running from the chamber F to the furnace of the locomotive and controlled by the throttle-valve g, of suitable construction.

In practice the pipes B D are set sufficiently near together to allow the receiver F when filled by one pipe to its full capacity, to con tain a working-pressure of gas when the next pipe is reached, so that throughout the extent of the line the chamber F may never be exhausted to a point below a necessary pressure above atmospheric pressure.

In running the locomotive the fireman opens the throttle-valve 9 just sufificiently to keep the infiow of gas to the furnace at the proper amount to feed the fire continuously and keep up a proper head of steam.

The invention is especially adapted to localities where gas-wells are in the vicinity of connectingdines of railroads and large junctions, and where the locomotives are continually running back and forth over short sections of track; but'it might easily be used over a sin gle line of track where the conditions are favorable.

The invention has the advantage of using a fuel that has long been used economically in connection with stationary engines, but which has never before been rendered applicable to moving furnaces,and is specially advantageous for locomotives, as it requires no handling and does not produce the smoke, cindcrs, or noxious vapors produced by coal.

It is evident that when the receiver is coupled to the pipe D only a few moments suffice to fill it with natural gas compressed to a degree equal to the pressure in the main, and thus the locomotive is enabled to use the fuel with the same advantage as a stationary engine which receives the gas direct from the main, and does not need a receiver therefor.

If the pressure in the main were one hundred pounds to the square inch, whichit often is, the recei\"er,at"ter being fed from one standpipe B, would contain gas at an equal or nearly equal pressure. The next pipe B would then be stationed far enough away for the pressure in the receiver to be reduced to a few pounds above atmospheric pressure before the locomotive reached it. It is found in practice that the pressure in the receiver need be but a few pounds above atmospheric pressure.

The same method can be used to feed the furnaces of steamboats by stationing the mains and pipes along the banks of a river; but it is more applicable to railway-locomotives.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is The combination of agas conduit connected With a gas-well delivering gas under pressure, said conduit being provided with suitable stand or branch pipes at intervals, substantially as specified, with a suitable gas-holder mounted on a locomotive'tender, or moving in conjunction therewith, said reservoir or holder being provided with the necessary con nections or appliances for conveying the gas from the. stand-pipes to the holder, all substantially as herein set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

J. HARMAR KATZ.

Witnesses:

T. H. ALEXANDER, W. R. KEYWORTH. 

